Pawpaw & Mango Sorbet

Following on with creating great recipes with pawpaw (aka papaya one of Nigeria's under-utilised fruits), I have come up with this delicious alternative to ice-cream (ok....maybe not!).

In any case you should try it.
Really easy, requires a little bit of an effort, but it will all be worth it when you take the first spoon out of our delicious dessert. (Read more about Pawpaw and Mangoes)

I have made it as healthy as possible by not adding too much sweeteners. I was certain to use very ripe pawpaw and very ripe and juicy mangoes. Of course you can add more or less of your preferred sweeteners if you wish.

Pawpaw & Mango Sorbet

Ingredients:

100g of the flesh of very ripe pawpaw (papaya).

100g of the flesh of very ripe cherry mangoes. (cherry mangoes worked best for this recipe but you can use other super sweet mango varieties, but make sure they are really ripe and soft)

4-5 tablespoons of sugarcane syrup/maple syrup/agave nectar

Half a sheet of gelatine (Dr Onken brand)

50ml of warm water

1-2 teaspoons of lemon juice

What to do:

Wash the pawpaw, then peel and cut flesh into small chunks (weigh out 100g).

Wash the mangoes, peel and cut flesh into small chunks (weigh out 100g). Finely chop some of the mango skin/peel to sprinkle over the sorbet when served.

Place the gelatine sheet FIRST into some cold water (for about 5 minutes) to soften it. Then remove the soft gelatine and place in 50ml of warm water to dissolve it complete. Stir well to ensure the gelatine is completely dissolved.

Place pawpaw and mango chunks into a smoothie maker (or a blender) and blend. Add some water (not more than 20ml to aid blending). Bear in mind that the quantity of water will determine the softness and ability to melt slowly or quickly.

Empty the blended fruits into a mixing bowl, add the syrup, gelatine solution and stir well. Also add the lemon juice (this gives a slightly tangy taste to this sorbet, which I love, again you can omit this if you wish).

Stir rigorously to achieve an even consistency.
Transfer into a plastic bowl, cover and place in the freezer. At an hourly interval, check the sorbet and stir it in one direction circular motion. Return to the freezer. This process breaks down the ice in the sorbet enables it to freeze uniformly and in smaller iced particles rather than large lumps of iced sorbet.
Leave to freeze, ideally overnight!

To serve, remove sorbet from freezer for about 10-15 minutes before scooping with an ice-cream scoop spoon. By this time the sorbet will be soft and slightly mushy just the way it should be. You can serve alone or with other desserts. For effects, sprinkle some finely chopped mango peel over the sorbet.

Pawpaw & Mango Sorbet

This is extremely refreshing to eat on a hot summer day! The kids would love it! Enjoy!